Railway-tie



No. 608,648, Patented Aug. 9, I898. E. G. CARTER.

RAILWAY TIE.

(Applicatinn filed Apr 16, 1898.) (No Model.)

dramas ATENT i ricn,

ELSlVORTll G. CARTER, OF COAL )LUFF', INDIANA.

RAH LAY- TI E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 608,648, dated August 9, 1898.

Application filed April 16,1898.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ELswoRTH G. CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Coal Bluff, in the county of Vigo and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Ties, of which I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to railway-ties, and particularly to that class of ties in which suitably-supported metallic sleepers are used in lieu of the common wooden sleeper.

In most of the railway-ties intended as substitutes for the ordinary wooden tie now commonly employed either the material is so costly or the structure of the tie so complicated,and hence expensive of man ufacture,as to render its use inexpedient and frequently wholly impracticable.

The objects of my invention are to provide a simple, cheap, durable, and easily-constructed tie possessing a certain elasticity, capable of being conveniently' transported, and having a novel and effective mode of securing the parts together.

WVith these objects in view my invention consists of a metallic cross-tie mounted on recessed blocks, preferably made of burnt clay, to which and to the rails the cross-ties are secured by means integral therewith and without the addition Ofindependent fastening means, the blocks being gripped and held between said securing means of the cross-ties.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the invention; Fig. 2, a plan view, and Fig. 3 an end View.

Throughout the several views the same letters of reference indicate the same parts.

Referring to the drawings, A A are tiles or blocks of burnt clay adapted to be placed in the road-bed and preferably trapezoidal in form, as shown, to afford a iirm bearing in the road-bed and a strong support for the cross tie and rails. Each block is provided with a channel B, extending throughout its length.

0 is a cross-tie, of iron or other suitable metal, extending longitudinally over and supported by the blocks A A and having its outer ends bent over and clenched in the chan- Serial No. 677,862. (No model.)

' cross-tie.

The means for holding the rails E to the tie consist of the lips F, struck up from the crosstie O and clenched on the flange of the rail.

Such a mode of securing the rails dispenses.

with the spikes, chairs, or similar independent means of fastening now usually employed and is at the same time simple and effective.

Although it is evident that as far as the combined arrangement of the various parts of the tie and the means of securing them together are concerned it is not essential of what material the blocks may be made, yet the use of the burnt clay is preferable, as its almost universal supply makes the blocks cheap and easy of manufacture at convenient points and in large quantities. The clay is very durable; but should the blocks become broken or worn out they can be readily replaced by new ones at slight cost. By having the blocks joined by the elastic metal bridge of the cross-tie there is less tendency to break than there would be were a single long block employed, while the elastic bridge formed as described affords a slight yielding action to the blocks and rails.

To use my invention as a switclrtie, it is only necessary to lengthen the cross'tie and place a third block in the middle, between the two end blocks.

It is obvious that numerous changes in the form of the parts and minor details of the construction of my tie might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact form of parts shown and described, but consider myself at liberty to make such changes as come within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- In a railway-tie, in combination with the centrally-channeled blocks, a metallic Cl'OSS". tie supported on saidblocks and having its outer ends bent in and clenched to said blocks within said channels and having central struck-in portions between the blocks bent In testimony whereof I affix my signature into the inner ends of the channels of each in presence of two witnesses. block and there clenched, whereby the tie is ELSWORTI-I G. CARTER.

. held on the block independently of other T. 5 means of fastening and each block embraced between an end and a central fastening device R. L. KEITH,

0f the tie, substantially as described. 0. B. HOWARD.

Witnesses: 

